Recently, cellular technologies such as 4G/LTE are starting to use unlicensed, free radio spectrum for cellular operator-owned communications. A primary example of such unlicensed spectrum is the so-called “5 GHz band”. The 5 GHz band is one of the frequency bands where wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi or WI-FI) is currently deployed. In various jurisdictions in the world, such unlicensed bands may be used with very little or no regulation and/or restriction. For example, generally there is no requirement for devices to utilize a listen-before-talk (LBT) algorithm for channel assessment. In other words, a wireless device operating in the unlicensed band may, at any time, send data without considering whether its transmission will conflict with ongoing traffic between other devices.
The 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) standard uses carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol, which requires that devices listen before starting to transmit. If traffic on the network is heavy, use of such LBT protocols may reduce the possibilities for a device to transmit.
Therefore, a need exists to develop apparatus, systems, methods and the like that will share the time allocation between different systems existing within the same frequency band such as an unlicensed band like the 5 GHz band where Wi-Fi exists.